Bangladeshi Mahfuza Akhter Kiron has been elected to the Fifa council but struggled to name the current women’s world champions in a disastrous interview

The newly elected representative for Asian football on the Fifa council has been heavily criticized after failing to name the current women’s world champions.

Mahfuza Akhter Kiron overcame the prominent women’s football advocate Moya Dodd in a bid to gain a place on Fifa’s ruling body on Monday.

Kiron beat Dodd by 27 votes to 17 after two other candidates for the woman’s slot representing Asia on the Fifa Council withdrew before the ballot.

And Kiron’s term has begun on a controversial note after she struggled to name the current world champions when interviewed by the BBC’s World Service.

When asked, Kiron answered “Korea” followed by “Japan”, before finally settling on the correct answer: the USA.

“This is very disappointing,” said two-time World Cup winner Carli Lloyd after the embarrassing gaffe.

Earlier, Kiron had beaten Dodd to the representative position. Dodd had previously been a co-opted member of Fifa’s old executive committee and was a leading voice promoting women’s soccer within the global body.

“Naturally it is disappointing. I’d hoped I had done enough in the few years I was part of Fifa to persuade people that I should have another shot at it,” Dodd told reporters.

“I think I will always be an advocate for women’s football…here are still a lot of ways to contribute. I am still a member of the AFC executive committee and of the board in Australia and I have other involvements,” she added.